VANCOUVER, Wash., Sept. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Electric Lightwave Inc.
(Nasdaq: ELIX), a leading integrated communications provider, today announced
a significant upgrade to its premier Internet backbone along with a
realignment of its national retail data sales channel. The company plans to
invest over $9 million in the next six months to upgrade the capacity of its
Internet backbone.
Along with 14 Cisco GSR 12012 gigabit routers, which have a throughput
capacity three times that of Electric Lightwave's existing Cisco 7500 routers,
additional OC3s will be installed from Salt Lake City to Chicago; from Chicago
to Washington D.C.; from Washington D.C. to Dallas; and from Dallas to Palo
Alto, Calif. New OC3s will also link Palo Alto to Sacramento, Portland, Ore.,
and Seattle; and from Seattle and Sacramento back to Salt Lake City. This
significant network upgrade will boost the company's robust Internet
architecture, which was recently recognized by Boardwatch Magazine as one of
the top five Internet backbone providers in the country.
"We are upgrading the capacity of our Internet backbone because of our
recent rapid growth and the significant additional revenue opportunity that
exists in providing Internet backbone services," said Dave Sharkey, president
and chief operating officer of Electric Lightwave. "In the first half of 1999,
our Internet revenue was 132 percent higher than the first half of 1998. We
continue to see significant demand from a broad range of retail and wholesale
customers."
Electric Lightwave will continue to use its expanded national Internet
backbone to serve wholesale customers across the country as well as terminate
traffic from customers on its 6,000 miles of fiber in the western U.S.
Meanwhile, the company plans to consolidate its retail sales operations in
Dallas and will close six retail sales offices in the eastern U.S. by
October 8. These include Cleveland, Chicago, Atlanta, Washington D.C., New
York and Philadelphia. Electric Lightwave will maintain its data
points-of-presence (POPS) in each of these cities. The company will also
maintain wholesale sales offices focused on other telecommunications carrier
customers in Atlanta, Kansas City, Kan., Houston, Dallas and San Antonio,
Texas.
"Our national data strategy has always been designed to increase the
traffic on our core fiber base in the West," added Sharkey, "and that
continues with our revised sales structure. We have attracted strategic
national customers and have determined that we can serve those customers and
our core Western customers on a national basis without the expense of local
retail sales offices. Going forward, we expect that this will improve our
revenue to expense ratios, focus our resources where we can get the best
returns and help drive us toward our goal of reaching Electric Lightwave's
first quarter of positive EBITDA (earnings before interest taxes, depreciation
and amortization) in the second half of next year."
The consolidation of the six retail sales offices will eliminate the
positions of 39 employees by September 10. The affected employees will be
given the opportunity to apply for open positions within the company or will
be eligible for a severance package. The company continues to grow, adding
392 employees within the last year to its current roster of 1,233 employees
nationwide.
About Electric Lightwave
Electric Lightwave Inc. is a leading integrated communications provider of
enhanced data services, frame relay, ATM and Internet access solutions to
bandwidth intensive businesses and the growing e-commerce market. The company
provides long distance, Internet and data services nationwide, with data
points-of-presence in Atlanta, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Houston,
Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York, Palo Alto, Calif.; Philadelphia, San Diego,
San Francisco, San Jose, Calif.; and Washington, D.C.
As a full-service provider, the company offers businesses local and long
distance telephone service and high-speed broadband transport that
interconnects major markets in the West, including Seattle, Sacramento,
Calif.; Salt Lake City, Phoenix, Boise, Idaho; Spokane, Wash.; and Portland,
Ore.
Headquartered in Vancouver, Wash., the company employs 1,233 and generated
revenues of $101 million in 1998, up 65 percent from 1997. Additional
information about Electric Lightwave Inc. is located on the World Wide Web at
http://www.eli.net.
Forward-looking statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to
risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially
from those expressed or implied in the statements. All forward-looking
statements are only predictions or statements of current plans, which are
constantly under review by Electric Lightwave (the Company). All
forward-looking statements may differ from actual future results due to, but
not limited to, changes in the demand for Internet backbone services, the
company's ability to reduce expenses as planned, changes in the local and
overall economy, the nature and pace of technological changes, the number and
effectiveness of competitors in the Company's markets, success in overall
strategy, changes in legal and regulatory policy, relations with Incumbent
Local Exchange Carriers (ILECs) and their ability to provide delivery of
services including interoffice trunking, implementation of back office service
delivery systems, maintenance of exclusive use of fiber on performance-based
leases, the Company's ability to identify future markets and successfully
expand existing ones and the mix of products and services offered in he
Company's target markets. Readers should consider these important factors in
evaluating any statement contained herein and/or made by the Company or on its
behalf. The Company has no obligation to update or revise forward-looking
statements to reflect the occurrence of future events or circumstances.
SOURCE Electric Lightwave Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.eli.net
Company News On-Call:
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/117258.html or fax,
800-758-5804, ext. 117258
CONTACT:
investors, Fletcher Chamberlin, 360-816-3996,
or fletcher_chamberlin@eli.net, or Enid Lamey, 360-816-4682, or
pager 800-368-9102, or enid_lamey@eli.net, or Jack Hardy,
360-816-3602, or pager 800-391-3267, or jack_hardy@eli.net, all
of Electric Lightwave Inc.
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